M/s. Nabco Batteries Versus Commissioner of Central Excise

Seizure of goods - Held that:- Once it is established that cheques in issue were not seized. Furthermore, return of cheques cannot, to my mind, stifle or impede investigation as is sought to be portrayed by Mr. Nijhawan. In the absence of power the respondent cannot withhold the cheques. - even if, one were to equate resumption with seizure (in so far as documents or things are concerned) the said power has to be exercised, with reasonable despatch. This is so as Section 110(3) of the Customs Ac .....

gs by the respondent, is also taken note of. The petitioner will be bound by the statement. - Decided in favour of Appellant. - W. P. (C) 3309/2015 - Dated:- 27-5-2015 - Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Shakdher,J. For the Petitioner : Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Mr. Parvez Bashista and Mr. R.P. Singh, Advocates For the Respondent : Mr. Kamal Nijhawan, Advocate ORDER 1. On the previous date, I had asked Mr. Nijhawan, the learned counsel for the respondent to take instructions in respect of documents and che .....

d the provisions of Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 (the Customs Act). 2.1 It is also the submission of Mr. Nijhawan that the petitioner has not been cooperating in the investigation and therefore the delay in prosecuting the case. 2.2 To be noted, show cause notice was issued in the matter on 8.07.2014. 2.3 There is also on record, as indicated above, a panchnama dated 22.01.2014. The panchnama clearly records that certain documents, which includes 14 cheques (as detailed out in Annexure A .....

arly emerges upon a bare perusal of sub-section (1) of Section 110. Furthermore, in so far as documents or things are concerned, sub-section (3) of Section 110 makes it amply clear that they can be seized by a proper officer, only if, he is of the opinion that they may be useful for or relevant in proceedings under the Customs Act. No such case has been made out by Mr Nijhawan during the course of his arguments. There is, therefore, to my mind, a marked difference between the power of seizure ad .....